MICHAEL VAN GERWEN will begin his bid to win a third PDC European Tour event in Austria against either Jonny Clayton or Host Nation Qualifier Nico Mandl at the Austrian Darts Open in Vienna this weekend.
The £115,000 PDC European Tour event will see 48 players competing from Friday June 10-Sunday June 12 at the Multiversum in Schwechat, Vienna.
The internet-streamed tournament begins on Friday with the first round as the 32 qualifiers face off, before the 16 seeded players enter the action on Saturday in the second round, with the tournament concluding on Sunday.
Number one seed Van Gerwen, a three-time European Tour winner this year who has previously won Austrian-based events in Wiener Neustadt in 2013 and in Innsbruck in 2015, faces the winner of the first round tie between Wales' Clayton and debutant Mandl, one of the four Host Nation Qualifiers who won spots on Thursday night.
Two other former Austrian Darts Open champions are in the field, with 2012 winner Justin Pipe up against Jamie Caven in the first round, while 2014 champion Vincent van der Voort meets Steve Beaton.
Phil Taylor makes his first appearance of the year on the European Tour in Austria, and the number 12 seed meets either Mervyn King or Steve West in his opener on Saturday.
Dave Chisnall, the runner-up in the last two European Tour events, will play either Caven or Pipe, while Austrian number one Mensur Suljovic takes on either Ross Smith or Kyle Anderson.
Number two seed Peter Wright is up against the winner of Friday's tie between Jermaine Wattimena and Brendan Dolan, with three-time European Tour winner Michael Smith set to meet either Mike Zuydwijk or Mark Frost.
The Austrian Darts Open is available to watch worldwide for all www.LIVEPDC.TV Subscribers.
Live coverage with faster streams is also available at the following betting websites:
Bet365 (Worldwide) – www.bet365.com
Betfair (UK, Ireland, Spain & Denmark) - www.betfair.com
Tempobet (Worldwide) - www.tempobet700.com
Live Scores will be available at the PDC Live Scores website, http://live.dartsdata.com .
Tournament Draw Bracket
Michael van Gerwen (1) v Jonny Clayton/Nico Mandl
Gerwyn Price (16) v Steve Beaton/Vincent van der Voort
Jelle Klaasen (8) v Jeffrey de Zwaan/Zoran Lerchbacher
Mensur Suljovic (9) v Ross Smith/Kyle Anderson
Kim Huybrechts (5) v Chris Dobey/Darron Brown
Phil Taylor (12) v Mervyn King/Steve West
Dave Chisnall (4) v Jamie Caven/Justin Pipe
Stephen Bunting (13) v Christian Kist/James Richardson
Peter Wright (2) v Jermaine Wattimena/Brendan Dolan
Alan Norris (15) v Steve McNally/Rowby-John Rodriguez
Benito van de Pas (7) v Josh Payne/Wes Newton
Terry Jenkins (10) v Wayne Jones/Dimitri Van den Bergh
Ian White (6) v James Wilson/Simon Stevenson
Robert Thornton (11) v Nigel Heydon/Roxy-James Rodriguez
Michael Smith (3) v Mike Zuydwijk/Mark Frost
Simon Whitlock (14) v Ron Meulenkamp/Jeffrey de Graaf
Schedule of Play
Friday June 10
First Round
Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm local time, 12pm-4pm BST)
Jermaine Wattimena v Brendan Dolan
Wayne Jones v Dimitri Van den Bergh
James Wilson v Simon Stevenson
Chris Dobey v Darron Brown
Nigel Heydon v Roxy-James Rodriguez
Christian Kist v James Richardson
Steve McNally v Rowby-John Rodriguez
Mike Zuydwijk v Mark Frost
Evening Session (7pm-11pm local time, 6pm-10pm BST)
Jamie Caven v Justin Pipe
Ron Meulenkamp v Jeffrey de Graaf
Josh Payne v Wes Newton
Jonny Clayton v Nico Mandl
Steve Beaton v Vincent van der Voort
Mervyn King v Steve West
Jeffrey de Zwaan v Zoran Lerchbacher
Ross Smith v Kyle Anderson
Saturday June 11
Second Round
Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm local time, 12pm-4pm BST)
Alan Norris v McNally/Rodriguez
Stephen Bunting v Kist/Richardson
Terry Jenkins v Jones/Van den Bergh
Robert Thornton v Heydon/Rodriguez
Ian White v Wilson/Stevenson
Simon Whitlock v Meulenkamp/de Graaf
Gerwyn Price v Beaton/van der Voort
Kim Huybrechts v Dobey/Brown
Evening Session (7pm-11pm local time, 6pm-10pm BST)
Dave Chisnall v Caven/Pipe
Jelle Klaasen v de Zwaan/Lerchbacher
Peter Wright v Wattimena/Dolan
Michael van Gerwen v Clayton/Mandl
Phil Taylor v King/West
Mensur Suljovic v Smith/Anderson
Benito van de Pas v Payne/Newton
Michael Smith v Zuydwijk/Frost
Sunday June 12
Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm local time, 12pm-4pm BST)
Third Round
Evening Session (7pm-11pm local time, 6pm-10pm BST)
Quarter-Finals
Semi-Finals
Final
All games are the best of 11 legs